Traction increasing means



March 126, 1940. J. 1.. EARL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 25, 1938 J. L.EARL TRACTION INCREASING MEANS Filed July 23, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented Mar. 26, 1940 IJNI'TED STATES PATENT OFFICE This inventionrelates to improvements in means for increasing traction of wheeledstructures, particularly structures having metallic wheels which operateon metallic rails such as locomotives and like vehicle's. --The presentinvention has for its primary object to -provide an improved tractionincreasing means through the use of improved electromagnetic deviceswhereby a magnetic adhesion is established between the metallic wheelsof the vehicle and the metallic rails upon which the wheels move.

Another object of the invention is to provide in an improved means ofincreasing adhesion of metallic wheels with supporting metallic rails,an improved form of induction coil designed to set up a magnetic fieldadjacent to the metallic wheels and rails, in which field such wheelsand rails serve as conductors, obtaining great reduction in loss orfeed-back of the magnetic force through brakes and brake rigging aswould be the case in the use of magnetic coils of ordinary construction.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved meansfor increasing mag-' means upon the application of friction brakes tothe wheels.

A further and more specific object of the invention is to provide animproved and novel means of closing an electric circuit through aninduction coil disposed adjacent a metallic wheel and supporting railtherefor simultaneously with the application of friction brakes to thewheel and for opening such circuit when the friction brake actuatingmeans is operated to release the brake.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of. thefollowing detailed description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings forming part of this specification, with the understanding,however, that the invention is not to be confined to any strictconformity with the showing of the drawings but may be changed ormodified so long as such changes or modifications mark no materialdeparture from the salient features of the invention as expressed in theappended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of a pair of locomotive drive wheelsshowing the relation of the solenoid coils thereto and to the supportingtracks' i Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the lay-out of the coils inassociation with .four pairs of wheels pair 'of locomotive wheels wherethe coils are" mounted at the inner side of the wheels.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view similar to Fig; 3 and illustratingthe-manner of supporting the coils at the outer sides of the wheels.

Fig. 5 is a view in front elevation of a coil.

Fig. 6 is a View in side elevation of a coil.

Fig. I7 is a sectional view through a switch showing the same inassociationwith a'portion of an-airbrake by which it is operated toautomatically energize and de-energize the coils.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, there is illustrated inFig. l a portiono-f the lower part of a locomotive showing portions ofdriving wheels,indicated by the numeral I supported upon the usualmetallic rail 2, in asso.

ciation with which driving wheels there are shown induction coilsindicated generally by the numeral 3, constructed in accordance with thepresent invention. In Figs. 3 and 4, there are shown two possiblemountings for the induction coils 3. In Fig. 3, the coils areshownmounted upon the inner sides of the wheels I by employing brackets4 which are secured to a suitable adjacent part of the car mechanismsuch, for example, as the frame which is diagrammatically shown andindicated by the numeral 5. -This figure may represent diagrammaticallya pair of locomotive driving wheels I between which portions of thelocomotive frame 5 are located. In attaching the coils to the locomotivesufiicient room may be had to place them at the inner sides of thewheels in the manner illustrated. Under some conditions, as whenmounting the coils upon coaches, there may not be sufficient room at theinner sides of the wheels or there may not be .a suitable supportingstructure at the inner sides of the wheels for attaching the inin Fig.4, where the wheels, such as car or coach wheels, are indicated by thenumeral 6, and the journal supporting'frames are indicated by thenumeral 1.

end of the coil will terminate above but be spaced from the crown of thetrack 2 in a manner hereinafter more specifically described.

Each of the induction coils 3 is longitudinally arcuate, as shown, andat its upper end has an- M As here shown, the upper end of each coil isattached to a frame so that thejlower attaching plate 8 while at itslower end there extends from it a core 9 which is in the form of a fiatplate which terminates in a straight portion II! which is horizontallydisposed above the crown of the rail 2 when the coil is attached to asupport at the inner or outer side of a wheel, as shown in either Fig. 3or Fig. 4.

Secured to the straight portion ll) of each coil core is a metallicinduction brush II which has its free ends directed downwardly and inclose proximity to the rail but free or" contact therewith. By the useof this metallic brush, the efiloiency of the system is increased byreason of the fact that the flow of current from the end of the magnetto the rail is brought about without loss of the magnetic flux to otherparts of the car understructure. This improved operation is obtained byreason of the fact that the magnetic flux or current of the magnetfollows the metallic bristles of the brush and passes directly from theends of the bristles to the rail, it being well known that electriccurrents will flow more easily from smallor pointed terminals to anadjacent object than from larger bodies.

Referring to Fig. 2, the distribution of the induction coils withrespect to several wheels of a car or locomotive is shown together withthe electrical hook-up or circuit in which the coils are connected. Itwill be seen upon reference to this diagram that each pair of car wheelshas four coils associated with it, there being two coils at one side ofeach wheel. These coils are preferably connected in series, as shown,although it is possible to operate them efficiently by connecting themin parallel. In the series connection shown for the coils, a suitablesource of electric potential such as a generator l2, which forms a partof locomotive equipment,- has one side connected to a current conductingline It and the other side connected to a similar line 14 in which islocated a control switch 15 and a current measuring meter it. One of thecoils of each group of four is electrically joined at one side with theline Ht as indicated at H, and another one of the group is joined at oneside. as indicated at 8, with the opposite line 13, the intermediatecoils being connectedin series relation so that the current flowing fromthe generator will pass through each of the four coils before returningto the generator by the opposite current conducting line.

It will be understood that the diagram set out in Fig. 2 illustrates thearrangement of the coils when they are associated with the drivingwheels of a locomotive or with the wheels of a car in which suiiicientroom exists for the location of the coils at the inner sides of thewheels and that where the coils must be placed at the outer sides of thewheels, the same grouping arrangement will be made use of.

t will be readily apparent from the foregoing that since theenergization of the coils 3 sets up a magnetic field which includes thetrack rails 2 and the wheels of the vehicle, the vehicle wheels will bemade to more firmly adhere to the rails due to the magnetic attractioncaused by the current and thus when the coils are energized at the sametime that the brakes of the vehicle are applied, it will be seen thatthe efficiency of the braking system will be greatly increased as themagnetic effect of the coils will greatly reduce slipping of the wheelson the rails.

While the diagram set forth in Fig. 2 shows merely a conventional typeof switch for controlling the flow of current to the coils, it iscontemplated to provide means for automatically closing the electriccoil circuit simultaneously with the application of the wheel. brakes.In order to accomplish this automatic closing of the electric circuitwith the application of the brakes, there is provided a switch unitindicated generally by the numeral H! which is mounted upon the airbrake cylinder 2|] by means of a supporting bracket 21 secured in anysuitable manner to the cylinder. The switch consists of the housing 22having terminal posts 23 and 24 secured in and projecting from its endsand insulated from the housing by insulation material 25. The forwardside of the switch housing, the side opposite from the cylinder 20, isclosed by the removable plate 26 and secured in an aperture in thecentral part of this plate is one end of a sleeve 21 in which isslidably positioned a plunger 28, the rear end of which carries aninsulation head 29 which extends from the end of the sleeve into theswitch housing. 1 he switch I9 is mounted at one side of the air brakecylinder piston rod 30 and secured to the rod is a collar 3! whichcarries a laterally extending finger 32 which moves along a path alinedwith the plunger 28 so that when the piston rod is moved back toward thecylinder 20 when the air brake is inoperative, this finger 32 willengage the plunger 28 and force it into the switch housing.

When the plunger 28 is forced into the switch or free end of the bladefree from contact with a short switch blade 34 which is attached to theother terminal post of the switch unit.

By connecting the air brake operated switch unit i9 in circuit with thecoils 3 in place of the switch 15 shown in Fig. 2, it will be seen thatwhenthe air pressure is raised in the brake cylinder in order to applythe brakes so that the piston (not shown) and the piston rod 30 aremoved outwardly, the trip finger 32 will move away from and release theplunger 28, thus permitting the resilient switch blade 33 to move overinto electrical contact with the blade 34 and thereby close the circuitin which the coils are connected to elfect energization of the coils andproduce the desired magnetic adhesion between the track rails and thevehicle wheels at the same time that the vehicle brakes are applied. Assoon as the brakes are released, the rod 3!) will move back so that thefinger 32 will engage the plunger 28 and force it against the switchblade 33 to efiect the opening of the electric circuit.

From the foregoing, it will be readily apparent that with the novellydesigned solenoid coils illustrated and described, it is possible toestablish the desired magnetic field in the vicinity of the vehiclewheels and rails so as to include the latter and produce the desiredmagnetic adhesion between them without leakage of the magnetic forcethrough adjacent metallic parts of the vehicle such as the brake shoesand the like and also by combining these improved coil structures withthe novel automatic means for effecting the closing of the electriccircuit in which they are connected, simultaneously with the applicationof the vehicle brakes, the maximum of braking efficiency will beobtained as the desired adhesion will become efiective as soon as thebrakes are applied and will be ineffective as soon as the brakemechanism is made inoperative.

By the use of permanent magnets of suitable size and properly charged tobe efflcient, it would be possible to obtain at least some of theresults obtained by the energized coils described. It will, therefore,be understood that the present application contemplates the use ofsuchpermanent magnets constructed and arranged in the same manner as theelectromagnets described, which could be re-charged as and whennecessary. Such magnets would not be wired or connected together butwould be arranged so as to have their ends with the north poles thereofin one horizontal plane adjacent the metallic wheels and their southpoles in another horizontal plane.

What is claimed is:

1. Mechanism for increasing adhesion between metallic wheels of avehicle and a metallic rail on which the wheels travel, wherein suchwheels are adapted to be engaged by a friction brake operated by an airbrake mechanism, including a cylinder and piston rod, comprising asolenoid coil suspended at one end at one side of a wheel and having itsother end disposed in close proximity to and between the wheel andsupporting rail, an electric circuit having said coil connected thereinand including a source of electric potential, a switch unit in saidcircuit including a pair of switch blades one of which is adapted to bemoved into electrical engagement with the other to close the circuit, anactuating member for one of said blades which when shifted in onedirection efiects the electrical disengagement of the 7 blades, andmeans carried by said piston rod engaging said switch blade actuatingmeans when said brake is unapplied to maintain said blades separated andsaid electric circuit open, the shifting of said piston rod in applyingthe brake effecting the closing of the electric circuit for theenergization of said coil.

2. Mechanism for increasing adhesion between metallic wheels of avehicle and a metallic rail on which the wheels travel, wherein suchwheels are adapted to be engaged by a friction brake operatedv by an airbrake mechanism, including a cylinder and piston rod, comprising asolenoid coil suspended at one end at one side of a wheel and having itsother end disposed in close proximity to and between the wheel andsupporting rail, and an electric circuit having said coil connectedtherein and including a source of electric potential, a switch unit insaid circuit including a pair of switch blades one of which is adaptedto be moved into electrical engagement with the other to close thecircuit, an' actuating member for one of said blades which when shiftedin one direction efiects the electrical disengagement of the blades,means carried by said piston rod engaging said switch blade actuatingmeans when said brake is unapplied to maintain said blades separated andsaid electric circuit open, the shifting of said piston rod in applyingthe brake effecting the closing of the electric circuit for theenergization of said coil, and a metallic brush

